Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices
no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne
refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her
desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers
and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the
strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares
her.

A fanatical church secretly hunts
psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of
mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now
Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a
force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them
all.

From the blurb alone, I knew Indigo Awakening would remind me of X-Men, which, like the case inTahereh Mafi's Shatter Me, is never bad because God knows how much I love mutants. Sadly, this book didn't quite... amaze me.

The story introduces us to Rayne, a Harley-driving teenage girl with an iguana for a pet, and her new dilemma: Luke, her younger brother, had escaped from the hospital he was detained in for his "abilities". But Rayne didn't know that Luke's talents and quirks were actually him being a part of the evolution of mankind, along with the other Indigos.

Indigo Awakening was certainly action-packed and suspense-filled, what with the ruthless and, unbeknownst to themselves, jealous Believers going after the gifted but misunderstood children, but what broke it for me were the lengthy and sometimes redundant internal monologues. Although those parts revealed a lot about the characters - because the book was written in multiple perspectives - I couldn't help but wish they would end once the action kicked in, but they irritatingly stayed on till the end and appeared in moments when I was just desperate to know what would happen next. They really downplayed the pace, and I think the author overused them to reveal backstory.

Also, there was quite a case of insta-love here. It didn't bother me when it happened to fellow Indigos because they all had this bond with everyone else in their kind, but I can't find an excuse for Rayne and Gabriel because only one of them was an Indigo. What's worse was how fast their relationship moved, and I found Gabriel's reaction - or lack, thereof - to Rayne's touching and snuggling when they'd just met unrealistic. I mean, I expected him to get uneasy or back away at first because he had been living in seclusion for years, but instead he was uneasy only for the same reason normal teenage boys would be if they were in close proximity with a girl.

After all my ranting above, you might think I didn't enjoy this book, but I did. I think it was because of the overall thrill of the cat-and-mouse game, and even more so when the mice proved powerful enough to defend themselves. Still, stories like this don't end with a happy ever after, but I'm fine with that because - especially with that little bomb right at the last page - I'm really looking forward to Crystal Storm (oh god that freaking title!), the sequel.

MY FAVORITE PART was Rayne and Gabriel's rescue mission at the tunnels.

RATING:

About the author:

Bestselling, critically-acclaimed
author Jordan Dane’s gritty romantic thrillers are ripped from the headlines
with vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her
intense novels to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag, naming her debut
novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM as Best Books of 2008. She also pens young-adult
novels for Harlequin Teen. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full
time. Jordan and her husband share their Texas residence with two cats of
highborn lineage and two lucky rescue dogs.

For anyone who has read an advance copy of INDIGO
AWAKENING, you know that a silver infinity bracelet plays an important part in
the story. Special bracelets will be given away on the virtual tour so the lucky
winners will be part of Rafael’s street family. Rafe’s bracelet was in black
leather, but I’ve added a white leather braid as my personal remembrance to you
for being in MY family.